39 replies to this topic

[Noizyboy]

Noizyboy, on Dec 2 2009, 10:54 AM, said:

Hi there guys, I'm a newbie here.  This is a great forum with a wealth of great info.  I'm really glad I found it.  

Well, I finally got tired of giving Apple and Digidesign $10,000 every two years to stay current.  So I'm preparing to build my own machine that I can upgrade every two years for considerably less.

I read the hardware compatibility Wiki extensively and came up with the following list.  Sorry if my questions are a littl redundant.......

I want to build a new machine to run protools 8 HD 2 with 2 PCI cards installed, one ilok with licenses, Leopard (or snow leopard), a Sata raid 1 configuration (System), and eventually a Sata Raid 1+0 for data.  I also want to run dual DVI apple monitors from my single video card (Listed below).

As I said, I don't have to run Snow Leopard, although as I understand the processors will run faster with it.  I don't think Protools is stable in Snow Leopard yet.....

Right now this whole setup already co-exsists on my G4 Dual 1.4 ghz, 1.5 gb ram, IDE Raid 1, so I want to build the new machine and test and tweak until it's stable.

Here's my wishlist;


Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9650 - Retail
Model #:BX80569Q9650
Item #:N82E16819115130

$319.99 $319.99

ASUS P5Q Pro Turbo LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #:P5Q Pro Turbo
Item #:N82E16813131377

$134.99 -$5.00 Instant $129.99

VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Retail
Model #:900244
Item #:N82E16814129113

$169.99 $169.99


hec X-Power Pro 600 600W Continuous @ 40°C ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Retail
Model #:X-Power Pro 600
Item #:N82E16817339025

$49.99 -$5.00 Instant $44.99

Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model AD-7241S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM
Model #:AD-7241S-0B
Item #:N82E16827118032
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy

$33.99 $33.99


COOLER MASTER GeminII S RR-CCH-PBU1-GP 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler - Retail
Model #:RR-CCH-PBU1-GP
Item #:N82E16835103046

$38.52 $38.52


G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
Model #:F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK
Item #:N82E16820231166
Return Policy:Memory Standard Return Policy

$90.99 $181.98


Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:WD3200AAJS
Item #:N82E16822136098

$47.99 $95.98


Update

NETGEAR WG111 v3 USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter - Retail
Model #:WG111
Item #:N82E16833150021

$39.99

How do you guys feel about this setup?

Can you recommend a good install and guide for this setup?

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

I'm planning to order the parts later today!  Wish me luck!!!!



Ant

Zaap, on Dec 7 2009, 01:19 PM, said:

Personally, I would recommend doing a retail install. Snow Leo is only $30- may as well go legit. (Provided the hardware you went with has retail/10.6.x support).

It's been my experience that any PCI card that works in a MacPro, will work in a Hackintosh that's set up properly. (Yes, that would include vanilla kernel.)

I'm not up on i7 install methods having never Hackintoshed one myself (just 775-based builds so far) but you should be able to find a decent guide someone has posted using the same hardware.

Let us know how it goes.

Well, I just got through with building and testing the system.  Took two days.  I ended up using Empire EFI and Vanilla SL disk, with Kexts for audio and EFI string for Video.

The whole system works great!!!

Just a couple of small issues.


1.  My usb ilok (used for authorizing plugins) keeps on asking me to re-authorize every time I start protools.  I have hundreds of plugins so this is a huge inconvenience.  It's almost as if the license are not being updated once I authorize.

2. Ethernet.  I can not get protools to search for ethernet controllers using the onboard ethernet on this Mobo.  Every time I do I get an error message!  Usually you just hit scan and it find the controller connected to the ethernet port.

this controller costs like 10K, so it's kinda of important to get it going! LOL

3. I don't seem to be able to get the system to recognize the new sata drive I have plugged into port 1.  The system is on port 0, and the DVD burner is on port 4.  Both these work fine.

Aside from these it's a wonderful world!


I'm going to try and install to  a different drive, using your suggestions for 10.6.1 (earlier in this thread later)

Any help would be much appreciated!

[tigeba]

I am using this and it works perfectly:

OSX 10.5.7
PT HD3 PCI
Gigabyte EP45-UD3R ( 1.1 with the newest R11 bios )
PNY GTS 250
Some quad core chip I had lying around.

I'm using a vanilla install with some kexts based on this thread

http://www.insanelym...howtopic=174385

Everything works correctly, iLok stuff, ethernet, onboard audio ( not that I really care .. )

I will probably try bumping up to Snow Leopard after they get a couple more compatible releases out the door.

Oh, if you want to get 3 cards going, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty a bit.  I had to take the heatsink off the chipset and cut it down a bit with a hacksaw to make room for one of the cards, since they are so large.  It is pretty tight but you can make it work.  

Just thought I would add this in case anyone is considering it.

[Zaap]

Noizyboy, on Dec 10 2009, 01:16 PM, said:

Just a couple of small issues.


1.  My usb ilok (used for authorizing plugins) keeps on asking me to re-authorize every time I start protools.  I have hundreds of plugins so this is a huge inconvenience.  It's almost as if the license are not being updated once I authorize.

2. Ethernet.  I can not get protools to search for ethernet controllers using the onboard ethernet on this Mobo.  Every time I do I get an error message!  Usually you just hit scan and it find the controller connected to the ethernet port.

this controller costs like 10K, so it's kinda of important to get it going! LOL

Sounds to me like an smbios and/or DSDT issue. In your setup, did you set up a proper DSDT file? Ditto smbios?

I know that sometimes the lack of one or the other or both of these can cause odd little issues. When I first set my main system up, sleep and logmein wouldn't work until I put the right smbios file in place. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it's what gives your machine a unique ID that allows things like hardware keys to work.

I wish I could tell you exactly how to set up either, but I'm no expert. I've always followed a guide that's provided or walked me through both. Check with others who have the same hardware you're using and if there's a prepatched smbios file and how to set up and patch a DSDT. All of this of course, assuming you haven't already.

Quote

I don't seem to be able to get the system to recognize the new sata drive I have plugged into port 1.  The system is on port 0, and the DVD burner is on port 4.  Both these work fine.

That's weird. First off, do you have orange hard drive icons, or the normal silver? Orange icons would indicate your drive controller isn't really set up properly and is seeing the hard drive(s) as external.

Are you using the same color of SATA connectors? Some boards have a few ports of a different color that usually indicate another controller, such as eSATA. I'd suggest just trying the other connectors until one works.

[Noizyboy]

Zaap, on Dec 12 2009, 03:42 AM, said:

Sounds to me like an smbios and/or DSDT issue. In your setup, did you set up a proper DSDT file? Ditto smbios?

I know that sometimes the lack of one or the other or both of these can cause odd little issues. When I first set my main system up, sleep and logmein wouldn't work until I put the right smbios file in place. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it's what gives your machine a unique ID that allows things like hardware keys to work.

I wish I could tell you exactly how to set up either, but I'm no expert. I've always followed a guide that's provided or walked me through both. Check with others who have the same hardware you're using and if there's a prepatched smbios file and how to set up and patch a DSDT. All of this of course, assuming you haven't already.




That's weird. First off, do you have orange hard drive icons, or the normal silver? Orange icons would indicate your drive controller isn't really set up properly and is seeing the hard drive(s) as external.

Are you using the same color of SATA connectors? Some boards have a few ports of a different color that usually indicate another controller, such as eSATA. I'd suggest just trying the other connectors until one works.

Noizyboy, on Dec 6 2009, 08:12 PM, said:

Hey so, I thought I would start a thread to verify people's experiences with using Protools hardware with their Hackintoshes.  In particular, regarding the PCI - PCIe cards.

There are a couple of threads out there which touch on this, but none more recent than 2007, and the info is pretty inconclusive.

Please post your motherboards, video cards, and processor combos and results.

If you are going to try these with 10.6 you should definitely use Protools HD 8.0.3pr, because nothing works before this version on any machine running Snow Leopard.

I have pretty extensive experience using Protools on Mac, so I for sure could help if you do run into any problems.



thanks......

Hey so, just to let you know that I have completed building my i7 2.66, GA EX58 UD3R, Protools HD 2 system, and everything is working flawlessly!

Details:


I installed using EX58 Mobo Patch script.  I simply followed the great guide.  See http://www.insanelym...howtopic=185097

Here's my original thread with the build list.  http://www.insanelym...p...00534&st=20

Now running OS X 10.6, PC EFI 10.3

Protools HD 8.0.3pr
Protools Core + Accel PCI
A wide variety of plugins (TDM & RTAS)
Dual monitors - video card is EVGA Geforce 9400 GT 512 (Dual DVI) - used OSX Tools to create custom EFI string
Control 24 control surface via on board ethernet
Core Audio
Internal Audio - via vodoo's kext
Internet via usb dongle
Firewire
USB

Thanks so much to Logical User and all the others that helped me get this going!

Noizyboy, on Dec 12 2009, 03:07 PM, said:

Hey so, just to let you know that I have completed building my i7 2.66, GA EX58 UD3R, Protools HD 2 system, and everything is working flawlessly!

Details:


I installed using EX58 Mobo Patch script.  I simply followed the great guide.  See http://www.insanelym...howtopic=185097

Here's my original thread with the build list.  http://www.insanelym...p...00534&st=20

Now running OS X 10.6, PC EFI 10.3

Protools HD 8.0.3pr
Protools Core + Accel PCI
A wide variety of plugins (TDM & RTAS)
Dual monitors - video card is EVGA Geforce 9400 GT 512 (Dual DVI) - used OSX Tools to create custom EFI string
Control 24 control surface via on board ethernet
Core Audio
Internal Audio - via vodoo's kext
Internet via usb dongle
Firewire
USB

Thanks so much to Logical User and all the others that helped me get this going!

Just a though, do you think I could use carbon copy cloner to back up this system, or is there a better solution?.....besides time machine.  I want to archive the system rather than constantly backing up changes.

[LogicalUser]

carbon copy cloner should work great for an OSX install volume itself.

where I'm a little fuzzy regarding Carbon Copy Cloner and hackintoshes is when dealing with the volume containing chameleon, be it located on the EFI partition, on an external USB (flash) drive or on your OSX install volume itself.

If you used an install method that places chameleon on EFI or on your OSX install volume I'm unsure if CCC will successfuly back them up & restore a bootable bootloader.

I have yet to attempt restoring the image I made of my chameleon USB stick onto a fresh stick, thus far I've only used the image as a backup, and manually did the whole chameleon install magic part via terminal

[Noizyboy]

LogicalUser, on Dec 12 2009, 09:44 PM, said:

carbon copy cloner should work great for an OSX install volume itself.

where I'm a little fuzzy regarding Carbon Copy Cloner and hackintoshes is when dealing with the volume containing chameleon, be it located on the EFI partition, on an external USB (flash) drive or on your OSX install volume itself.

If you used an install method that places chameleon on EFI or on your OSX install volume I'm unsure if CCC will successfuly back them up & restore a bootable bootloader.

I have yet to attempt restoring the image I made of my chameleon USB stick onto a fresh stick, thus far I've only used the image as a backup, and manually did the whole chameleon install magic part via terminal

It seems to have worked.  It, being Carbon Copy Pro.  I just cloned the drive and now when I boot, if I hit a key when Chameleon loads, it gives me a choice of two OS X volumes to start from.  Pretty Cool!

Now I have to test it by removing the original drive and just starting the computer up with one drive in the machine, to simulate a drive failure.

I've been pretty lucky.  So far I've only had one software conflict, and I think that is to do with this particular software's  incompatibility with Snow Leopard.

I'm using a plugin called Liquid Mix HD.  Which ever version of this plugin I load first (There are stereo and mono versions) prevents the other version from loading up.  I get both a DAE error and a fatal error warning.  Very strange, but I'm noticed on focusrite's site that they don't list Liquid Mix HD among the plugins that has been tested with Snow Leopard.

I wrote them an email to see if they can suggest anything as a work around.  Of course I can just use routing to get around the problem myself anyway.

[Formal]

Hi all, I have the PC EFI 10.5 and I have a retail 10.6 disk, do I a diff disk?

I am going to build a system EXACTLY the same as Noizyboyz (it seems to work !)

Just a little cloudy on the install procedure, If anyone can chime in I would appreciate it!

Thanks in advance

[Noizyboy]

Formal, on Dec 26 2009, 09:08 AM, said:

Hi all, I have the PC EFI 10.5 and I have a retail 10.6 disk, do I a diff disk?

I am going to build a system EXACTLY the same as Noizyboyz (it seems to work !)

Just a little cloudy on the install procedure, If anyone can chime in I would appreciate it!

Thanks in advance

I actually used PC EFI 10.3, but it shouldn't make a difference.

You'll also need OSx86 tools for the graphics string and a kext for the audio, unless these are now included in PC EFI 10.5.  Also, you may just want to use the 'X58 Mobo script' that's floating around here somewhere.  This will simplify things significantly.


N

[Formal]

Noizyboy, on Jan 2 2010, 01:34 PM, said:

I actually used PC EFI 10.3, but it shouldn't make a difference.

You'll also need OSx86 tools for the graphics string and a kext for the audio, unless these are now included in PC EFI 10.5.  Also, you may just want to use the 'X58 Mobo script' that's floating around here somewhere.  This will simplify things significantly.


N

Hey,

OK system built using PC EFI 10.5 (via Digital Dreamers EX58 script and the standard DSDT file with it) , all working (Nvidia GT120 GFX is showing as 9500GT but I am fine with that for now)

ethernet is good (but will not show for remote desktop or screen sharing at all, but internet is fine and I can connect to server fine)

NOT WORKING :

No sound (Noizyboy which one did you use, can you share a link please?)

No Sleep, will not wake up at all (Noizyboy same as above please;)

Everything else seems to be spot on and it will geekbench at about 8400 (with NO O/C, may try not sure)

Will install 2 x Digi HD PCI cards now and see what their like (fingers crossed!!!)

Report back later.....









BTW I have the BIOS set to ACHI but when I boot the board runs the startup and then the ACHI bios but yet it quickly shows error "nothing connected", then shows my SSD and SATA DVDRW and asks me to push any button, then starts PC EFI 10.5 no problem?

Is it maybe the SSD that causes the error message? Not overly bothered as it works fine (system has been burning in for 3 days now and works perfectly, it will just become slightly annoying after a few weeks!)

[Formal]

OK, cards are in (HD2 Accel PCI)

Digitest sees both of them and passes fine, it also sees my 192 IO. BUT with PT HD 8.0.3 it will start loading, see the ilok and cards but hang on the warning "IO not connected, connect and IO now etc"

I have the core card in the upper PCI (PCI 1) and the Accel card in the lower (PCI 2)

Tried restarts, turning on/off etc but same thang.

Any help would be grand

cheers

TDM Ribbon on wrong ports between core and Accel:))))

just need to get sleep and built in audio sorted and will start putting through its paces.

Oh and will now try dual monitors.

Oh and will now try dual monitors.
[/quote]


Work perfectly on Nvidia GT120 512MB - Great!

Just loaded up basic session in PT 8, opened up some audio, all good so far

[Noizyboy]

Formal, on Jan 3 2010, 10:12 AM, said:

OK, cards are in (HD2 Accel PCI)

Digitest sees both of them and passes fine, it also sees my 192 IO. BUT with PT HD 8.0.3 it will start loading, see the ilok and cards but hang on the warning "IO not connected, connect and IO now etc"

I have the core card in the upper PCI (PCI 1) and the Accel card in the lower (PCI 2)

Tried restarts, turning on/off etc but same thang.

Any help would be grand

cheers

TDM Ribbon on wrong ports between core and Accel:))))

just need to get sleep and built in audio sorted and will start putting through its paces.

Oh and will now try dual monitors.

Oh and will now try dual monitors.



Work perfectly on Nvidia GT120 512MB - Great!

Just loaded up basic session in PT 8, opened up some audio, all good so far

Cool, I was just about to tell you that your tdm ribbons are backwards, but you figured it out.

Okay, did you get your sound, and sleep.

For sleep you should use the X58 script to install the sleep enabler kext.  You're in 10.6 right?  10.6.1 upwards uses a newer sleepenabler kext.

For audio, I'm gonna have to take a look when I get to the studio tomorrow, so I can see what I used.  I tried a couple of different kexts.


Verify your bios settings with this guide;

http://www.insanelym...howtopic=185097

[joshier]

For backing up - couldn't you just use old school DOS Ghost? Would back up everything on the HD.

[Formal]

joshier, on Jan 9 2010, 09:05 AM, said:

For backing up - couldn't you just use old school DOS Ghost? Would back up everything on the HD.

no, on os x the bet is cc cloner, works great and completely free!

Going to finish build tomorrow and soundproof rackmount case. Couldn't get onboard sound going but it's very poor anyway so not too bothered. Very happy so far with build, cheaper than a magma chassis and I have a new machine!!!

[propower]

OK... I'm looking to follow in the footsteps of this thread and also build a new rig for my HD2 PCIx. I currently do run an "efix" hack based on the Q9550 and a Gigabyte EP45 board.

So... this one is i7 but I love the idea of being able to go up to 12G in Ram (6G now and then 6G later when full 64 bit is in play) without resorting to 4G chips. I have been eyeing the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 board. The issue I have is that the PCI slots appear not to be contiguous so I worry that the ProTools will have issues (Will the flex cable even reach?).

Any one used one of these for HD2?

Thanks,
-Lee

[PelleG]

Exactly!

I just put together a UD5 and everything looks fine 'til now.

But, how the hell do you solve the flex cable thing?

Graphic card needs to be in slot1, huh?

I can bend the cards together at the top to fit the cable but it's not really feng shui if you know what I mean...

Is there longer flex cables?

Please, ...it appears to be people up and running with this configuration.
How did you do it?
I guess the moment it works - you don't ever look back at this place...

best,
Pelle

[forch]

PelleG, on Mar 27 2010, 10:58 AM, said:

Exactly!

I just put together a UD5 and everything looks fine 'til now.

But, how the hell do you solve the flex cable thing?

Graphic card needs to be in slot1, huh?

I can bend the cards together at the top to fit the cable but it's not really feng shui if you know what I mean...

Is there longer flex cables?

Please, ...it appears to be people up and running with this configuration.
How did you do it?
I guess the moment it works - you don't ever look back at this place...

best,
Pelle

I've been searching for longer TDM flex cables, don't know if there are any 3rd party flex cables that might work and are a bit longer.

The only way I managed it was bending the cards, screwless (just like you said) and you can carefully connect the flex cable to the other card. It's not extreme bending, they should hold. The DigiLink cables still connect on the back so there shouldn't be any problem. But never use any force if they are a bit stuck and the cable doesn't reach far enough, be gentle, and they will fit

The UD3 would have been a better solution though

[PelleG]

forch, on Mar 29 2010, 02:28 PM, said:

I've been searching for longer TDM flex cables, don't know if there are any 3rd party flex cables that might work and are a bit longer.

The only way I managed it was bending the cards, screwless (just like you said) and you can carefully connect the flex cable to the other card. It's not extreme bending, they should hold. The DigiLink cables still connect on the back so there shouldn't be any problem. But never use any force if they are a bit stuck and the cable doesn't reach far enough, be gentle, and they will fit

The UD3 would have been a better solution though

Hmm...

I'll file in my report as the good forum fox I am:

This is my setup:

COMPUCASE S411 PC-CHASSI 19# 4U
ASUS GEFORCE 9500GT 1GB GDDR2 PCI-E VGA/DVI/HDM
CORSAIR 6GB DDR3 XMS3 INTEL I7 9XX PC10666 1333
CORSAIR TX 750W PSU ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 X58 S-1366 ATX
HITACHI DESKSTAR 7K1000.C 500GB 7200RPM SATA/30
INTEL CORE I7 920 2.66GHZ 8MB S-1366
SAMSUNG DVD±R/RW/RAM DL 22X IDE
DIGIDESIGN PRO TOOLS HD2 PCIe
4 x DIGIDESIGN 192
DIGIDESIGN MIDI IO

I followed this:



but, with the newer EmpireEFI (empireEFIv1085.iso).

I couldn't sleep with the two PCIe cards leaning against each other so I tried graphic card in the second PCIe16 slot. DIGI cards in the PCIe4 and the first PCIe16.
Worked!!!

It runs smoothly most of the time, occasionally freezes bad.
Googled. Googled some more. Turned off hyper threading and... so far flawless.

I wont cheer just yet. Bad karma will bite me in the but for sure.
I can't believe the deal on this hardware compared to a Mac Pro. The rack mounted chassis makes it very professional.

If it keeps stable...

/Pelle

[propower]

Will post much more soon..... have configured now two Digi/Hack rigs.....
Never got an answer on the UD5 slot issue so went with GA-EX58-UD3R instead, two PCI side by side
GA-EX58-UD3R V1.0 for one and V1.7 for the other
i7 920, Noctua cooler
6G OCZ Platinum 7,7,7,20 1600 RAM
128G Kingston SSD for OS
128G Kingston SSD for Audio recording
1.5TB WD Green.... amazing drive, feels no different than Black..... QUIET! Update.... fine for mass storage, tried as a partition on this as a clone system drive.... Yuck... just dirt slow for that!
Lowly EN8400GS Silent video on one (9800GTX+ with Scythe Musashi on other - drives Apple 30" no prob))
Modu 82+ 625W Silent P/S
Two hot swap drive bays in front panel (to G-Sata)
Sony Optiarc
All Silenx fans or better
HD2 Accel PT 8.0.3 (HD2 on one, LE on other with 003)
Behringer USB audio adapter (just use the Digital I/O anyway)
LIan Li Cases PC-60 for HD2, A17 for LE
10.6.2
Works.... Ethernet, FW, ESATA, Sleep on MyHack install)
No work..... Sleep on Digital Dreamer install, Audio (truth is haven't tried real hard - $30 USB device is too easy)

Goal on HD rig was 10.6.2, 8.0.3, fast and as silent as possible. So far mission accomplished! I will measure noise later today but between the silenx upgrade to my 192 and this machine I expect noise at 1m to be ~3dB above room.... ~33dBA with no equip on...... At this point I am probably there but I could also baffle the workstation just a little and get this close to 0dB additional..... I record acoustic instruments about 15 feet away and was pretty happy before..... The switch to the Green drives was all about noise, the blacks are awful in comparison.......

Used Digital Dreamer script for HD2, all astock but added NVEnabler. All works except for Sleep and Audio
Used MyHack V1 3/2010 and Empire EFI for LE... Amazing. My hats off to the MyHAck and Empire EFI guys.....The easiest install ever -- almost too good! Will detail soon. Update: after watching the videos tagged above I am not sure I could add much! Great info and very detailed. Will cross HD2 rig over to MyHack/EFI soon....

Only preliminary testing so far (4 hour tracking session, various playing around..... no probs so far, no panics, no lost communication........ So far just as solid as my old efix rig that ran HD2 for 1 year without issue.....

-Lee

[PelleG]

...Awww..

This is rough. It was a big step going from a rock solid PPC running Tiger, PT 7.4 and HD3 process.

Actually, I think it's too early for snow leopard and PT HD.
And with the whole Avid recreation it could take some time.

I use my new setup for mix only. It's not stable enough for tracking. Sure, if I don't touch any plug-ins I guess it's been solid.
For tracking I really need to trust my system. It's not very creative to work in fear of crashes.

With RTAS I've had tons of problem on the new machine. It's impossible to know at this point what to blame:

My Hack?
Snow Leopard?
Hyper Threading?
Integrated USB chips?
"Cheap" RAM?  (Apple would say so)
Pro Tools?
Third party developers?

What bugs me is that I run LE on my MacBook with a 003 and it's been 100% stable. With all imaginable plug-ins.

/Pelle

[propower]

PelleG, on Apr 14 2010, 08:12 PM, said:

...Awww..

This is rough. It was a big step going from a rock solid PPC running Tiger, PT 7.4 and HD3 process.

Actually, I think it's too early for snow leopard and PT HD.
And with the whole Avid recreation it could take some time.

I use my new setup for mix only. It's not stable enough for tracking. Sure, if I don't touch any plug-ins I guess it's been solid.
For tracking I really need to trust my system. It's not very creative to work in fear of crashes.

With RTAS I've had tons of problem on the new machine. It's impossible to know at this point what to blame:

My Hack?
Snow Leopard?
Hyper Threading?
Integrated USB chips?
"Cheap" RAM?  (Apple would say so)
Pro Tools?
Third party developers?

What bugs me is that I run LE on my MacBook with a 003 and it's been 100% stable. With all imaginable plug-ins.

/Pelle

A few questions.......

After rereading your earlier post a few times and looking up this board I think item 5 is at the heart of your matter.....

1) What PT rev (8.0.3 is the only one for SL as far as I know)
1a) SL version?
2) What plugins are giving you problems?
3) Freeze bad..... when do you get this? Shouldn't be happening
4) Are you sure, double sure, triple sure that every plug is the latest AND SL approved? Got a list?
5) I still get kind of queasy about the slot thing. In the good old days you had to have the cards in specific slots in a specific order. So you have PCIe HD cards -- not good old PCIx ones??  So you have the Digi Core card first and in a slot that is meant for short pinout boards. Then the Accel card in the first full size slot. The Newegg site specifically says the Graphics card has to be there if you only have one. If you try just Graphics in first full size slot and just your core card in the next full size slot (leave out Accell card) do things get a lot better? Does the PCIex4 slot really support an HD core card?
6) Test your RAM with REMBER. I had a bad stick in this build that gave me the weirdest problems.
7) Are all you bios settings for the CPU and RAM at optimized defaults? For me this dumbed my 1600 RAM down to 1066. I tested both ways with xbench (1600 and 1066) and not much difference so I left it lower for a while. Many RAM need higher voltage (or custom latency settings). Is yours set correct per the data sheet?

So there are a few things off the top of my head.......

-Lee